Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Belle
The guys follow me as I stomp my way toward the living room area and throw myself down dramatically on their couch. We seem to be playing a game of chicken when it comes to who will break the newfound silence first.
I’m not going to be the one to break the silence. They’re the ones that have some explaining to do.
Preferably before another heat spike approaches because my skin still feels slightly flushed.
“Why are you surprised to hear how close to town we are? I thought your memory came back,” Knox croaks out.
Rhys and Percy both turn wide-eyed and stare between Knox and me in bewilderment, their mouths dropping open in synchronized shock.
“It did... well, mostly,” I admit. “I guess I blocked out the stuff about the night I wound up here because what happened was mildly traumatic.” I shrug as if that part is no big deal because in comparison to the things they neglected to tell me, I think their stuff is a little bigger at the moment.
“When did your memory come back?” Rhys asks at the same time Percy asks, “Why didn’t you tell us ?”
Ugh. This is so not the point right now!
“I wanted to wait until this afternoon because I was still processing all this new–ish information about myself. I didn’t want anything to change yet.”
Rhys and Knox share a long look.
I’m not usually one for violence, but I swear if they try to justify their lies with the evidence of my brief omission, I might be convinced a halfhearted shoulder punch is deserved. Or maybe a soft smack. Better yet, a gentle caress across each of their bodies. I could start at the neck and work my way down to...
Ah, crap.
My skin is crawling with need, and I manage to wipe away another bit of drool at the corner of my mouth as I imagine all the taut muscles I could touch right now if the other two guys were shirtless like Knox.
I cross my arms over my chest, half because I want them to know I’m annoyed with them and half because I’m narrowly holding myself together to keep from throwing myself at any one of them. Or all of them. At this point, who’s counting?
If I want the guys to be honest with me, I owe them some honesty, too. And now with my memory completely back, there’s one thing I want to make clear right away.
“I had a boyfriend at home,” I announce, ripping the bandage off to share the ickiest news first.
Knox growls under his breath as Percy sucks in a sharp breath. Rhys can’t even look at me once the words are out.
Quickly, I clarify, “Things were over before I met you guys. I invited him to the bar to meet Mia to get her opinion of him, and when he showed up... They turned out to be a scent-match. So, I left before things could get awkward. I didn’t have anything to drink at the bar, so I made a quick escape in my car, only I didn’t anticipate the weather, and that’s how I wound up here.”
A collective groan sounds from the pack.
“How serious were you with him?” Percy asks, his face fixed in a deep frown.
I nervously laugh. “I think I wanted things to be working well more than they actually were. We never made it past some chaste kissing at the end of our dates. We didn’t... connect , the way I do with you guys.”
For obvious reasons.
That news seems to help cheer the alphas up a bit. At least Rhys manages to look at me again, his eyes round and worried.
“The three of us are a little much for a rebound,” he halfheartedly jokes.
I roll my eyes and shake my head at him.
My alphas are more of a boomerang situation than a rebound. I just know that I’m going to find myself drawn back to them no matter where I try to go from this point forward.
Once I forgive them for lying to me, of course. And for me to do that, they need to spill the beans themselves so we can have a true clean slate to make decisions from.
“Your turn. Tell me the truth,” I demand, my voice coming out sharper than intended.
Rhys rubs the back of his neck and blows out a long sigh. “Okay, we lied to you, Snow Bunny.”
“About?” I arch a brow and cross my arms tighter over my chest.
I love it when he calls me by that nickname.
“About how far from town we are. About not having internet or phone service. About needing to wait so long to take you home.” Rhys recites the list in a deadpan tone that makes my heart ache. All of his boyish charm is gone, and he suddenly seems more sullen than Knox when I first met him.
Knox’s jaw tightens. “We should have told you sooner.”
“Yeah.” I laugh humorlessly. “You think?”
They must have thought I was a fool, believing they were living off-the-grid with a giant TV in their living room and Percy’s tablet full of books always within reach. Even with amnesia, I can’t believe I was so gullible.
My only excuse is being blinded by the shock of finding my scent-match.
Rhys steps closer, his hands going out to reach for me until he thinks better of it and stops himself. “We weren’t trying to hold you prisoner, Snow Bunny. We knew we couldn’t keep you forever unless you wanted that as much as we do. That your memory would return eventually, and that we would have to face whatever life you built before meeting us.”
“We wanted to make sure you would give us a chance when that point came,” Percy adds softly. “We wanted you to understand what we could offer.”
I press my fingers to my lips to still my trembling. My throat is tight as I note the sincerity in each of their expressions. They lied to me for selfish reasons, but not altogether unforgivable ones.
And if I’m being honest with myself, I’m not sure I can blame their logic.
As much as I would like to pretend I’m not the kind of person who runs from things, I sort of did do exactly that. I ran from the bar instead of facing the match between Mia and Jason, even though Mia is my best friend in the entire world, and I know she would never want to hurt me.
If I remembered what happened at the bar the night I was introduced to their scents, would I have been prepared to face my shock? Or would I have run scared away from them back to hide in my apartment?
I think I still would have given them a chance...
Once I stopped being scared, remembering how my dads loved my mom so deeply and lost her.
I’ve yearned for a scent-match like every other omega out there, but I’ve also been afraid of the possibility of falling for anyone that hard. Isn’t that why I started dating Jason in the first place instead of continuing to search for the right match? The more you love someone, the harder it is to face the potential of losing them.
And these guys? I could see these guys being really hard to lose.
So maybe they had the right idea, keeping me close under false pretenses for a couple of days. I don’t like it, but I think I understand the logic.
I’m just not sure if the part of me that understands the logic is a rational part, or if that’s my omega brain rationalizing their choice to excuse them faster so we can get back to doing more of what Rhys did for me in the kitchen. Or what Knox and I did in the library.
Percy still deserves a turn, too, right?
I settle against the back of the couch, take a deep breath through my nose, and look from man to man. At their faces, even. Since their bodies are proving to be too distracting.
“There’s a lot to work out,” I say firmly, making sure to look each of them in the eyes. “A lot . And I’m not going to tell you all that everything is magically okay just because you know that lying to me was wrong.”
“Understood.” Knox nods, his mouth set in a grim line.
“From now on, we’ll go at whatever pace you want. You can call the shots,” Rhys offers.
I appreciate the offer, but I think the choice about pace is about to be made for us, if the warming flush of my face is anything to go off of.
“We’ll talk and agree on what comes next... after my heat.”
“After?” Rhys stands up straighter. “You’re serious about staying during this?”
“Yes, I’m staying, like I told Mia. I want–“ My voice breaks, and I swallow and try again. “I want to ride this out with the three of you.”
My body is already thrumming with need. A craving that I want satisfied sooner rather than later. Rhys gave me a taste, and now I need more. I need help to ease the ache between my legs.
“But after,” I force out,” We talk. We sort this out with no more lies or secrets.”
“No more,” Knox agrees with a terse nod.
“No more,” Percy echoes with a softer edge.
Rhys kneels at my feet and bows his head to me. “No more.”
I lace my fingers behind my head and let myself outright admire them in all their glory, now we’ve come to a temporary truce for the sake of surviving my heat together. They’re so hot. All three of them. I check them out so thoroughly I’m nearly panting before I speak again.
I jut my chin out and smile as I ask them in a needy, breathless voice, “So, what now?”